Tumbler beader



Nov. 22, 1.966 J. MINER ET AL 3,286,687

TUMBLER BEADER Filed Nov. 26, 1965 INVENTORS ROBERT J. MINER BY WALTERA. TIMM ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,286,687 TUMBLER BEADER RobertJ. Miner and Walter A. Timm, Toledo, Ohio, assignors to Owens-Illinois,Inc., a corporation of Ohio Filed Nov. 26, 1963, Ser. No. 326,005 4Claims. (Cl. 118239) This invention relates to an apparatus for applyingceramic color to the bead surface of glass tumblers or the like.

More specifically, this invention relates to an apparatus for applyingdecorating material in liquid form to the upper edge or bead of glasstumblers in which the ware moves continuously on a straight lineconveyor past the decorating position without interruption of themovement of the ware.

In the past it has been necessary in decorating the bead edge ofglassware to hold the ware in a chuck, rotate the ware and apply thedecorating coating to the bead surface as the ware is rotated relativeto the applicator.

Other systems have been tried, in which moving belts are used to apply aceramic coating to the bead surface of the ware, but again in thissystem it was necessary that the ware be capable of rotating relative tothe ink applying surface of the belts.

With the foregoing in view, it is an object of this invention to provideapparatus for applying an inorganic or organic color medium in liquidform to the bead surface of tumblers or like articles.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide apparatus whichapplies a ceramic color to the bead or upper edge of articles in whichthe articles are conveyed continuously in a linear path without thenecessity of interrupting the movement when applying the decoration.

Other and further objects will be apparent from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the annexed sheet of drawing,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a detailed view on a large scale of a portion of the apparatusof FIG. 1.

With reference to the drawing, a continuously driven conveyor beltrunning in a horizontal plane carries the ware 11 thereon inspaced-apart intervals beneath the mechanism for applying the ink to thebead edge of the ware.

The ink applying mechanism comprises a base 12 (only a portion of whichis shown) which may be supported from the floor as a stand or it may beportable, in the sense that it may have castors so that it can be movedinto position adjacent the moving conveyor belt. The base 12 carriesfour upstanding bushings 13 fixed at its upper surface with the upperends of the bushings being joined together by a plate 14. The bushings13 are adapted to serve as guides for four vertical rods 15 which arejoined together at their upper ends by a mounting plate 16. The mountingplate 16, as best shown in FIG. 1, takes a generally rectangular formand adjacent its center, as shown in FIG. 2, carries a thrust bearing 17on its undersurface. The thrust bearing 17 rotatably receives the end ofa threaded shaft 18. The threaded shaft 18 extends downward through acomplementarily threaded bushing 19 fixed to the plate 14. The lower endof the shaft 18 carries a crank arm 20 fixed thereto which serves as ameans for rotating the shaft 18 to effectively raise and lower the plate16 relative to the base 12.

In this manner the plate 16 is adjusted in height. The plate 16 carriestwo shaft bearings 21 and 22 which are adapted to receive a horizontalshaft 23. One end of the ice shaft 23 extends through the bearing 22 andwhen the base is positioned relative to the conveyor, as shown in FIGS.1 and 2, the end of the shaft will extend over the surface of theconveyor 10. The extending end of the shaft 23 extends through a pair ofshaft bearings 24 and 25 which in turn are fixed to a platform 26.

The platform 26 is generally rectangular in plan view and extendsparallel to the length of the conveyor. The platform carries a motor 27fixed thereto to the right of the supporting shaft 23. The motor 27,through suitable gearing, drives a shaft 28 to which a pair of pulleys29 and 30 are fixed. The platform 26 has two vertical side plates 31 and32 fixed to the end thereof opposite the end supporting the motor 27.The two side plates 31 and 32 serve to rotatably support a pair ofhorizontal shafts 33 and 34. The shaft 33 carries a drum 35 fixedthereto between the two side plates 31 and 32. The diameter of the drumis such that a portion of its peripheral surface extends below the planeof the platform 26, it being understood that the platform has an openingin the bottom thereof corresponding to the position of the drum topermit the drum to rotate relative thereto. The platform 26 also carriesan inking material trough 36 within which the surface of an inkingroller 37 mounted on the shaft 34 is adapted to turn. A doctor blade 38fixed to a support 39 has its outer edge in wiping contact with thesurface of the roller 37.

It should be pointed out that the roller 37 runs in close proximity tothe surface of the drum 35 and it can readily be seen that upon rotationof the drum 35 in the direction of the arrow shown thereon in FIG. 2,ink will be transferred from the roller 37 to the surface of the drum35. The drum 35 and inking roller 37 are both driven by the motor 27through the belts 40 and 41 which are respectively in engagement withthe pulleys 29 and 30. A belt tension take-up pulley 42 is adjustablymounted with respect to a vertically extending support 43 so that thetension in the belt 40 may be maintained at a proper level.

Thus it can be readily seen that a continuous supply of ink will besupplied to the drum 35 by reason of its running in close proximity tothe roller 37. With the particular drive shown, the roller 37 will berotated in the same direction as the drum 35 and with its lowerperiphery submerged in the ink contained in the trough 36 ink will bepicked up on the roller 37, spread relatively thin by the doctor blade38 and then transferred to the drum 35 during its rotation past theroller 37.

As the ware 11 is moved by the conveyor beneath the drum 35, ink carriedby the drum will be transferred to the top surface of the ware.

As previously explained, the platform 26 may be raised and lowered asdesired by rotation. of the threaded shaft 18. This adjustment isprovided to accommodate the apparatus for glass tumblers or glassware ofdifferent heights. This adjustment is somewhat gross, in that it is notcapable of very close, fine adjustment and in order to provide such fineadjustment, an adjustable stop mechanism, specifically illustrated inFIG. 3, is provided.

An angle bracket 44 fixed to the mounting plate 16 carries an end 45thereof which terminates in close proximity to the side plate 31adjacent the forward end of the side plate 31. A bracket 46 connected tothe side plate 31 extends vertically downward with a portion 47 thereofextending horizontally in overlying relationship with respect to the end45 of the bracket 44.

It should be pointed out that as the tumblers move beneath the drum 35,the platform 26 pivots about the shaft 23 and the particular arrangementand distribution of weight on the platform 26 is counter-balancedslightly toward the drum carrying end so that a certain amount of forceis applied by the drum to the upper surface of the tumbler or glasswareas it is moved beneath the drum.

In order to prevent the platform 26 from tilting too far beyond thehorizontal, a threaded bolt 48 is provided which extends through alignedopenings in the portion 47 of bracket 46 and in the end 45 of thebracket 44. A helical spring 49 is mounted in surrounding relationshipwith respect to the bolt 48 and extends between the head of the bolt andthe upper surface of the portion 47 of the bracket 46. A second helicalspring St) is mounted in surrounding relationship with respect to thebolt 48 and extends between the undersurface of the end 45 of thebracket 44 and a thumb screw 51 which is threaded on the bolt 48.

Inasmuch as the bracket 46 is fixed to the platform 26, downwardmovement of the platform is limited to the extent of its contacting ofthe portion 47 by the end 45 of the bracket 44. This contact thus servesto define the lowest position of the drum periphery in relation to theconveyor surface. In order to provide a finer adjustment to thisposition, an adjusting screw 52, which is threaded through the portion47 of the bracket 46, be adjusted with its end in contact with the end45 of the bracket 44. Thus it can readily be seen that turning of theadjusting screw 52 will provide a fine adjustment of the initial heightof the drum surface with respect to ware passing thereunder.

As the ware contacts the drum 35, the drum Will be forced upwardly andcause the platform 26 to pivot about the shaft 23. The upward movementof the drum end of the platform 26 is regulated to the extent of theforce exerted on the bracket 46 by the springs 49 and 50. Obviously, thespring 49 will be somewhat compressed and as the bolt 48 is movedupwardly the spring 50 would also be somewhat compressed. However, thesesprings in turn will assure the return of the drum to its initialposition preparatory to being contacted by the next article to betreated.

The roller 37 will normally have a rubber-like surface and the warecontacting surface of the drum 35 may also be of rubber. However, it wasfound satisfactory to use a drum having a plain aluminum surface and itwas found that such a drum would carry sufficient ceramic color or inkto provide an adequate coating to the bead or upper surface of the Ware.In the operation of the device it is important that the drum be rotatedby the motor 27 at a peripheral speed which is equal to the lineal speedof the conveyor 10. While not shown, it should be readily appreciatedthat synchronous drive mechanism, for assuring that the peripheral speedof the drum and the conveyor belt speed are the same, is conventional inthe article handling art.

In summary, it can be seen that applicants have provided an apparatusfor applying ceramic color or ink to the upper edge of articles whichare continuously moving in succession on a conveyor by the use of adriven drum serving as the ink transfer means. The particular mechanismdescribed above is adjustable in the sense that it may be used to applyink to ware of different heights and the Ware carried by the conveyorneed not have any further support as is customary in other devicesutilized for applying ink to the beads of tumblers and like articles.

Various modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for applying ceramic color to the mouthdefining rimsurfaces of tumblers or the like comprising, means for moving aplurality of tumblers in upright position in a straight line, ahorizontal shaft, a frame and means thereon mounting said shaft with oneend extending outwardly over the line of moving tumblers and spacedvertically thereabove, a platform, means rockably mounting said platformon the outwardly extending end of said shaft so as to be disposed in alongitudinally and overlying rockable relation to said line of movingthe tumblers, a motor mounted on said platform longitudinally thereofand at one side of the pivot, a rotatable drum means rotatably mountingsaid drum on the platform longitudinally thereof at the other side ofsaid pivot, said drum defining a peripheral decorating surface that isin an overlying relationship with the line of tumblers and engageablewith their rim surfaces as they move longitudinally beneath saidplatform, means drivingly connecting said motor to rotate said drum, asupply of ceramic color carried on said platform, inking means includingan inking roller rotatable in said ceramic color and positioned betweensaid supply thereof and said decorating surface of the drum fortransferring the color to said decorating surface, the platform beingcounterweighted so as to rock in the direction for lowering thedecorating surface of the drum into engagement with the rim surface ofthe tumblers therebeneath, means connected to said frame for raising andlowering said shaft with respect to said line of moving tumblers, stopmeans on the frame and engageable with said platform for limiting therocking movement of said platform, and resilient means connected betweensaid platform and said stop means normally urging said platform intocontact with said stop means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further including adjustable means betweenthe platform and stop means for adjusting the spacing therebetween whenin abutting relationship.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for urging said platforminto contact with said stop means comprises a bracket fixed to theplatform, a bolt passing through both the stop means and the bracket,and a spring surrounding the bolt in contact with the bolt head and thebracket.

4. The color applying apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein saidperipheral decorating surface of the drum comprises a plain aluminumsurface.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,134,739 11/1938Schutz ll82l8 2,651,282 9/ 1953 Schweitzer 1l8210 X 2,952,239 9/1960Stover l18-244 CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

L. G. MACHLIN, Assistant Examiner.

1. APPARATUS FOR APPLYING CERAMIC COLOR TO THE MOUTHDEFINING RIMSURFACES OF TUMBLERS OR THE LIKE COMPRISING, MEANS FOR MOVING APLURALITY OF TUMBLERS IN UPRIGHT POSITION IN A STRAIGHT LINE, AHORIZONTAL SHAFT, A FRAME AND MEANS THEREON MOUNTING SAID SHAFT WITH ONEEND EXTENDING OUTWARDLY OVER THE LINE OF MOVING TUMBLERS AND SPACEDVERTICALLY THEREABOVE, A PLATFORM, MEANS ROCKABLY MOUNTING SAID PLATFORMON THE OUTWARDLY EXTENDING END OF SAID SHAFT SO AS TO DISPOSED IN ALONGITUDINALLY AND OVERLYING ROCKABLE RELATION TO SAID LINE OF MOVINGTHE TUMBLERS, A MOTOR MOUNTED ON SAID PLATFORM LONGITUDINALLY THEREOFAND AT ONE SIDE OF THE PIVOT, A ROTATABLE DRUM MEANS ROTATABLY MOUNTINGSAID DRUM ON THE PLATFORM LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF AT THE OTHER SIDE OFSAID PIVOT, SAID DRUM DEFINING A PERIPHERAL DECORATING SURFACE THAT ISIN AN OVERLYING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LINE OF TUMBLERS AND ENGAGEABLEWITH THEIR RIM SURFACES AS THEY MOVE LONGITUDINALLY BENEATH SAIDPLATFORM, MEANS DRIVINGLY CONNECTING SAID